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GDAX Review

In this GDAX review, we provide you with the latest information regarding platform’s crypto trading market. Being part of the Coinbase’s system, GDAX has many features to offer. In this review, we investigate security tools, fee structure, verification requirements, regional serviceability, and its trading platform.

At the end of this article, we construct pros and cons section while we use similar platforms throughout the article. Benchmarking helps to understand advantages and disadvantages better, thus we compare GDAX with CEX.IO, Bitfinex, BitMex, and Kraken.

About the Platform

When talking about GDAX, one cannot miss mentioning its parent company called Coinbase. In 2016, Coinbase rebranded its exchange platform and decided to provide margin trading marketplace for its customers. As a result, Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX) was born as a result of providing more services than simple exchange trade.

Due to its connection with Coinbase, GDAX is a regulated business, in which only 32 countries are supported. As with its owner website, GDAX offers more than adequate liquidity and supply of tokens for trade. Thus, double volume market pumping allows investors to trade larger-than-average volumes on daily basis.

Currently, GDAX offers an only Android app on Google Play while iOS platform is not part of the support. Although there have been talks about including iPhone users as well, there has not been any concrete plans in motion for iOS app to happen. The app is available through Cryptofy.me, as shown in the picture below.

Registration and Verification

When creating an account at GDAX, you are asked to provide personal details about yourself. These include your name & last name, address and phone number. After you open up the account, you will not be able to trade unless you go through the verification process. Here, you need to provide both proof of address and scanned copy of your ID or passport.

You should know that if your country of origin is not part of the list containing 32 countries, you will not be able to use platform even with a verified account. You can also sign in using your Coinbase account.

Payment Methods and Fees

Funding your account at GDAX is possible only through bank transfers. Using these come at the price of €0.15 for SEPA, $10 for USD Wire deposits while ACH deposits are free. Withdrawals carry a cost of €0.15 for SEPA and $25 for Wire transfers.

There is also trade level costs that you should account for while trading at GDAX. The fee structure is organized through maker & taker fees. Maker orders do not have any costs while takers range between 0.3% and 0.1%, depending on monthly volume achieved.

GDAX is thus similar to Kraken and Bitfinex, who also offer bank transfers only. BitMex and CEX.IO offer more options, such as credit cards and Neteller. Additionally, BitMex does offer even trade reimbursement for maker fees, as much as -0.05%.

Accepted fiat currencies are USD, GBP, and EUR, while available crypto tokens are bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum.

Security

Before we start with tools available, we need to start with funds protection at GDAX. All assets deposited at the platform are insured by the company. It means that fiat money transfers directly to US banks while tokens find themselves in cold storage.

Next line of protection is tools available to you to use. These are password manager, IP whitelist and two-factor authentication (2FA). That is pretty much it seems since other tools like email notifications are not available. Bitfinex does a better job, as it offers several other features for you to protect your account with.

Customer Support

At GDAX, you have a separate support platform, where you can access FAQ section. It is not by any means extensive but it does provide the majority of needed information and explanation of trade tools. In addition to FAQ, you also have direct email contact and ticket system to reach company’s representative.

Live chat is yet to be developed though when compared to industry, many other trade platforms do not have it. Thus, we do not consider it a weakness (at least not yet anyway).

Trading Platform and Functions

The GDAX platform offers a simple crypto trading environment for clients to use. The interface is not customizable as BitMex’s but you do have charts and ledger records to keep up with the market. As for the trade, you have three categories of orders available to you, them being market, limit, and stop orders.

Market orders execute simple enough order, where you take current’s value of crypto and turn it on fiat. It works as with any other regular exchange, as you purchase coins instantly using this method.

The limit is probably the most trade-like feature that GDAX has to offer. You get to set upper and lower price limitations, securing you from incurring large losses. You also have 4 functions that have different properties for trade, them being Good Til Cancelled, Good Till Time, Immediate or cancel, and Fill or Kill.

Stop function is what makes your losses smaller when you choose the lower limit for buy and a higher limit for sell trades. There is no leverage tool available for customers, since form 2017, GDAX decided to stop margin trading services.

Unlike Bitfinex and BitMex, GDAX does not boast of numerous cryptos and trade pairs. You are limited to 6 pairs depending on your region.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

a small number of trade pairs available

only bank transfers available as deposit/withdrawal method

available 32 countries only

Conclusion

In this GDAX review, we went over the platform’s trade indicators, such as fees, verification, security, and trading environment. GDAX is a good place to start for beginners, as its trading capacity is a lot less complex than at BitMex or Bitfinex.

Your assets are insured while functions are not numerous. You can still make use of limit and stop functions, should you wish to practice a bit with market trends.